


From Ashes

by CyanideVixxen



Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-23
Updated: 2019-09-23
Packaged: 2020-10-26 14:20:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20743607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CyanideVixxen/pseuds/CyanideVixxen
Summary: New Guardian Emrys faces challenges right after resurrection





	From Ashes

All I remembered was nothing. Not a literal nothing, but a void of anything. No sound, images, noise, or anything. It was like a video where the screen was black and there was no noise, but you don't know when you started watching.   
Then, there was light. Bright and natural, it blinded me as I opened my eyes. It took a second for me to realize I was on the ground, laying as if I had fallen asleep. I sat up, trying to figure out where I had been and where I was now.  
“You're awake! Well, alive.”  
A small little thing flew into my vision. I could see a blue eye in the middle of its almost star-shaped body. I stared at it, afraid to move. Was it here to kill me? Kidnap me?  
“Come on, now. We have people to see, things to do. And places to not die right now.”  
I took that as a sign of good intentions. Standing up, I realized I was on the side of a road. There were rusted-out shells of cars, as if they'd simply been left ages ago. There were some buildings scattered a bit off, some destroyed.  
“Where am I?”  
My voice sounded foreign. Is that what I sound like?  
The little robot looked around. “Not exactly sure. We're not gonna stay here though. Oh, introductions! I'm..well, I'm your ghost, Waverly. You're Emrys, and you've been dead awhile. Long enough not to worry about it now. Now, let's go. Like I said, things to do!”  
Emrys? It sounded familiar. I trailed after Waverly, still trying to figure out where and who I was. The nothingness now had a name, Death. Maybe that's why everything felt so surreal, because I was experiencing it for the second time.   
“You're gonna need to keep up, we're got too much ground to cover.”  
Waverly was a fair distance ahead of me. I jogged a bit to catch up, still trying to get a grip on reality. Why was I alive again? How had I died? What was going on?  
“I'm picking up some other Guardians nearby. They'll be able to get us to the City.”  
The City? Just one? And Waverly had mentioned other Guardians, did that mean I was one, too?  
There was a lot I was going to need to learn.   
“Hello?” Waverly was calling out over a radio. “New Guardian incoming. We need an escort to the Vanguard.”  
“Well, hello new Guardian!” a soft female voice replied. “Ghost, if you give me coordinates, I'll be right there!”  
Waverly turned towards me and seemed to nod. “Transmitting now. I'd hurry, we're unarmed.”  
The other Guardian laughed. “Yeah, I'm not far. Hang tight.”  
I heard some weird chatter, not through the radio. It wasn't talking, but it was definitely something communicating. Waverly must have heard it because he started looking around. “Emrys, we might need to run.”  
“Why? What's the sound?”  
“Something that's gonna try to kill you.”  
That was reassuring. I could see some slight movement near some trees, but couldn't make out what it was. I started to panic, with everything so new I didn't know what was a threat and what was here to help. The movement sneaked closer, but it was still hard to make out.  
“Almost there, Guardian!” The female's voice came over the radio again. Whatever was nearby must have heard it, too, because suddenly these...things started running at me. I turned and tried to race away, only to hear guns firing off towards me. Something hit me, and a spot on my back started to burn. Footsteps got closer and closer, and I tried to go faster. The armor I was wearing had to be weighing me down. This was it, I was born again just to die right away. Something grabbed my shoulder, bringing us both to the ground. I let out a yell. The thing turned me facing up, then aimed a gun at my face. It looked like it was charging a beam, and I braced myself for death.  
Instead, a knife came flying out of nowhere and embedded itself in the thing's head. The corpse fell off to my side, and a blur of dark blue ran past me. I saw a cloaked figure running straight for the whole pack of things, gun out. They were almost dancing, the way they turned and took out everything. Waverly stayed close as I slowly stood up, watching this new person eliminate everything coming after them.   
“Don't you even have a gun?!”  
It was the Guardian from the radio! I hadn't expected such a gentle voice to belong to someone so good at killing.   
“He's been here about ten minutes. I told you, unarmed.”  
Finally, the last enemy was dead. She let its body fall to the ground before looking over at us. “Alright, I'll give you that. Ghost, prepare a ship transmat for us.” Her own ghost, with a body painted a night light blue, nodded at her.   
Suddenly, I was somewhere else. It must have been her ship, because I was surrounded by metal walls and floor, and she was in a seat facing a control panel and windows.  
“Alright Guardian, I'd get comfortable. It's a long ride to the City.”  
“Um, okay.” I sat down, still not sure what was going on. Waverly sat on my leg, looking as exhausted as I thought he could.  
“I'm Emmaline, Hunter scout. You came back at a good time, things have been pretty quiet lately. We're gonna take you to the Tower, which is basically where you're gonna live. Ikora will be your Vanguard mentor, so I'll take you straight to her. I have to check in with Cayde anyways. She'll probably explain some Warlock things to you and give you to somebody to train for awhile. You'll live with your trainer until you graduate, unless there's some exclusion they give you. I'd suggest trying to get along with them.”  
This was a lot to take in, but it seemed to make sense. “Okay...um, those things you fought? What are they?”  
She laughed. “Oh, those are Fallen. More annoying than dangerous unless you get too close to their home. Which I guess you did.”  
The whole ride was a lot of explaining. About the Light and the Darkness, the Traveler, guardians, the Vanguard, a million things I was desperately trying to remember. It was a new world for me, but I wanted to be a part of it. I heard about Oryx and his son, Crota, both defeated by Guardians that had extraordinary skill and no fear. I heard about all the threats that they had faced, all the challenges, and the names of a few who hadn't made it out.   
“There's so much we've done,” Emmaline said. “There's books and books of the victories we've made for humanity. And probably a million more books to be written.” She sounded so hopeful. I was going to help protect humanity, and I was going to be in one of those stories.  
“There it is, the City.”  
I looked through the windshield to see the skyline. It looked beautiful compared to the miles and miles of rubble and forest we'd been passing. A broad wall ran around the edge, with towers on top every so often. Home looked so safe.  
“After we pull into the hangar, we'll get you straight to the Vanguard. Ikora's probably not busy, it's been pretty quiet recently.”  
As we slowed down and started to get closer to one of the taller towers, I noticed the sky start to darken. Emmaline noticed too, but she didn't seem concerned. I trusted her to know the dangers, she'd been living this life for much longer than me.   
“Almost there! Let me switch to local radio.” She flipped a few switches, then said, “This is Emmaline Roberts, requesting permission to land.”  
A new voice came up over the radio. “Permission granted. See you soon, Emma!”  
The hunter laughed. “Sure will, Amanda. Also have a new guardian with me. Once they get settled with Ikora, he'll be in need of a ship.”  
We started moving into a large building. I could see a lot of other ships, some with what looked like work equipment near them.  
“Welcome to the Tower, Rys.”  
We landed, and I materialized onto a metal walkway. Waverly seemed to have more energy, and was looking around excitedly. He seemed happy to be near other guardians, and back home. I felt some of the same excitement myself, like I'd been waiting for this for years. A place to call home felt so nice.  
“Alright, let's get you to Ikora. Right this way!” Emmaline practically bounced past me. I followed her as she took off her helmet, still bouncing, and this huge cascade of hair tumbled out. It was a beautiful flow of blonde, with just enough curl to perfect it. I felt my heart pick up pace at the sight of her.   
“Holy crap,” I whispered. Waverly seemed to give me a look as we followed Emmaline. She just seemed so happy, now that she wasn't near things that wanted us dead. She turned to make sure I was following, and had the biggest smile on her face. I could finally see her face, and she had stunning brown eyes. I could feel myself start to smile, too. I wanted to be near her more.   
“Oh!”  
She suddenly stopped. We were in front of a doorway to the outside, where it had apparently started to pour rain. The few people we could see were dashing across the plaza in front of us, heading to other covered areas. Emmaline looked over at me.  
“Ready to run?”  
I nodded. We both took off in a sprint, stopping once we got to a covered hallway Emmaline led me to. When we turned to look at me, she started laughing. “Your hair looks messy now. Oh well, ready to meet the Vanguard?”  
“As ready as I guess I'll ever be.” Was my hair really messy?  
We stepped in. There was a long table, surrounded by lots of people. A lot of them were looking at screens of some sort, and some of those were walking between points.  
“Ikora!”  
Emmaline started towards a woman standing off to the side. I did my best to stay close, since I wasn't quite sure of what was going on. A few people turned to look at us, but I tried to keep my focus on Emmaline.  
“Ikora, I found a new Guardian!”  
The woman looked up from her screen. She seemed to notice me, but then went back to her screen.  
“Thank you, Emmaline. I'm trying to figure out an issue here, can you give me a minute?”  
The hunter nodded. She then looked out the broad window stretching across the back of the room and I saw her face change from smiling and happy to confusion, then fear.  
“Emrys, go towards the table.”  
“What?”  
Before either of us could properly react, Ikora suddenly looked up. A man next to the table turned away from the window and yelled.  
“BATTLESTATIONS!”  
I decided to follow Emmaline's orders and dashed towards the man who had yelled. She joined me, her helmet back on and gun ready.  
“What's going on-”  
Before I could finish, a wall of purple erupted from the man. It went in an orb around us, almost like a force field. Seconds later, explosions rocked the building. I had to grab Emmaline's arm to keep from falling.  
From the first explosion to when the protective orb faded felt like forever. I could feel the fear radiating off of Emmaline. This was something new for both of us. I held Waverly close. These two were the only things in this world, and I was terrified that if I let either one go, I'd never have them again.   
“We need to get out!”  
I turned to see two guardians rushing out back towards the plaza. Where were they going? What could even be done against something like this?  
“Emrys! Let's go!”  
The hunter started running after the other two. I tried to keep up, even with the ground shaking. Was this it? Was my life already over?  
“Where are we going?”  
She kept running. “To safety! Be ready to jump!”  
Jump? What did she have planned? Turns out, what seemed like insanity. She led me to the edge of the plaza, which had a steep jump.   
“I won't make it!”  
She lifted me onto the railing. “You will. Just jump before you hit the ground. Now go!”  
She gave me a hard push, and down I went. I probably screamed, considering I had just learned who I was and was now plummeting to the ground, surrounded by things on fire and exploding. I could see ships in the sky, scattered over the entire city.  
Right before I felt I would hit the ground, I did what I thought would magically push myself up. Like Emmaline had said, I jumped. In midair. I then landed safely, Waverly burying himself into me. I heard Emmaline land next to me, and she pulled her helmet off. Instead of her smiling face greeting me, I saw the face of absolute terror. My blood ran cold at how afraid she looked.  
“Rys, get out of here. There's nothing you can do here, you need to run.”  
I pulled Waverly close. “I...I don't know where to go. Where are you going?”  
She looked back up at the tower above us. “Evacuations. I'll get you to one of the gathering spots, but you need to get out.”  
“But I can help-”  
“You can't, you really can't. Rys, this is what we've feared for centuries. This is the worst-case scenario. The best way you can help is by getting out of here so you can learn to fight.”  
I looked at her. She looked like her whole world had broken in front of her.   
“I...will you find me, though?”  
Her reaction told me everything. She looked at me with eyes full of pain. There was a chance she wouldn't make it to find me.   
“I..I'll try. Rys, I'll promise I'll try to find you. But you need to get out. Or neither of us will make it out.”  
I didn't want to leave her. Even with the emotions I felt from her, I wanted to stay. I opened my mouth to protest, but she pulled me close...and kissed me. It was soft, and warm, and I felt myself loosen up a bit. When she pulled back, she had a pleading look in her eyes.  
“Please, Rys.”  
I nodded. “I...is there a spot nearby? I shouldn't keep you from your job.”  
She pointed down the street. “There's a park straight that way. Even if there's been hits nearby, it shouldn't be hard to find. Listen to what they tell you. Stay with the group.”  
“Thank you. Good luck. With your uh..mission.”  
She gave me a small smile. “Yeah. Be safe.”  
I watched her run off, deeper into the city. I turned the direction she had pointed and started walking. Waverly shifted a bit.  
“At least she gave you something.”  
“Huh?”  
“The kiss. Something to keep going with.”   
“Oh. Yeah.”  
He shifted more. “You're pretty oblivious, kid. Once you saw her with her helmet off, you haven't really taken your eyes off of her.”  
I started moving a bit faster. “Am I that bad?”  
Suddenly, it felt like I'd been punched in the stomach. I fell, dropping Waverly onto the ground.   
“Rhys..I'm...”  
If he said more, I couldn't hear it. My vision went fuzzy, and my hearing turned into ringing. Was I dying? I couldn't be, not here. I needed to keep going. I needed to make sure Emmaline could find me. I couldn't die here.  
Somehow, I got back to my feet. I felt weaker, like I'd been hollowed out. I saw Waverly, sitting on the ground.  
“I..Rys...it's dark...”  
I scooped him up. “Come on, I've got you.” His light was dim. I needed to get to the safety point. I started walking again, lacking the energy to go faster. Things were still burning and exploding and falling, I could hear it all crashing.   
Suddenly, a huge armored being burst through a nearby building. I fell back in surprise, hoping he wouldn't see me. He didn't, since another guardian came out of the gap in the wall after him. I watched them shoot at each other, taking a few hits each until the Guardian took a shot directly to the chest and fell backwards. He loud out a loud cry when he hit rubble, but gave his gun one last burst. It popped the helmet of his enemy off, who also fell, lifeless. I rushed over to the Guardian.  
“Are you okay?!”  
He seemed to notice me faintly. “I...don't think I'll make it, chief.”  
I pulled his helmet off. A scarred face stared back at me.   
“Come on, we can make it. Do you need help up?”  
He shook his head. “I...you're new, kid. You've gotta be. I'm so sorry.”  
“What do you mean?”  
He stared up at the sky. “Every story has an end, this is going to be mine. Don't let it be yours if you haven't gotten to a good part yet.”  
What did he mean? “I..I'll...what?”  
Waverly pushed into me more. “Rys...he's gone...”  
As he said that, I watched the guardian's eyes glaze over. I had watched someone die. I had watched someone fight until their last breath. The reality of everything was sinking in.   
“We...need to go...”  
I didn't need to be told twice. I forced myself to get back up and keep walking. One step after another, I kept going. I had to, I had promises to keep. I had the good part of my story to find. I had to make a good ending.  
I don't know how long I walked. It could have been a few minutes, it could have been a few hours. Things looked the same, as they tend to do when they're falling apart. But finally, I found the part. It was relatively intact, and I could see a few people near the entrance. As I got closer, they noticed me slowly making my way in.  
“Guardian or civilian?”  
I looked down at the shaking Waverly in my arms. “Guardian. I think.”  
One stepped forward. “Any emergency orders?”  
“I...I don't...think so..I...just got to the tower..”  
The two nodded to each other. “Go on in. We'll be evacuating soon.”  
I felt even more empty as I went in. I could see so many people huddled around each other, some injured. Some were holding small bags, but a lot of the people I saw were only holding small objects. A lot of children I saw only had a toy. A few were sitting alone.  
I found a spot next to a tree that wasn't crowded, so I sat down with Waverly. He didn't seem too dinged up, just dusty and quiet.  
“We'll get you out of here, buddy.”  
He turned up to me. “I...won't be able to heal you, Rys. We'll have to be safe. No fighting.”  
I nodded. “That's okay. We can help in other ways.”  
“Oh, no...”  
A nearby guardian looked over at a figure walking into the park. It was another hunter, telling by the knife on her waist. She was holding a helmet close, looking like she was in a daze.  
“Is she okay?”  
The first guardian looked over at me. “That's Sara, she's one of the top guardians alive. That's...that's Rein's helmet.”  
She slowly made her way to a bench. I didn't get why she had someone else's helmet at first...oh. Oh, no. I could only watch in sympathy as she stared at it in her hands.  
“Were...they close?”  
The other guardian nodded solemnly. “Teammates. The only person she was closer to is her girlfriend. I..would give her space, kid.”  
Waverly pulled himself closer. “We have to keep going, Rys.”  
If there was ever a better time to wish I had stayed dead, now was it.

**Author's Note:**

> This is a partner piece to my other Red War work, there are references to events that occur in that story


End file.
